5+ stars for The Shiver in her Eyes by Brian Anderson #bookreview #mystery #mustread #nnlbh
- N. N. Light
- May 1
- 3 min read
Title: The Shiver in her Eyes
Author: Brian Anderson
Genre: Mystery
Book Blurb:
Hired by a mob-controlled pornographer to investigate a grisly murder, Minneapolis PI Lyle Dahms faces murderous gunmen, merciless gang members, and a massive ex-professional wrestler who, besotted with the dead man’s wife, insists on tagging along.
The real mystery involves the pornographer’s mistress, a dark and vulnerable beauty who steals Lyle’s heart—and who may not be everything she seems. As the lies continue to mount and loyalties change like the Midwest weather, Dahms risks his life to seek justice and protect the woman he loves.
My Review:
An intriguing, hard-boiled mystery, featuring a tough and sometimes funny private investigator named Lyle Dahms.
In this debut instalment of the series, Lyle goes undercover, cleaning up a murder scene. In the process, he finds himself dragged into the murder investigation, then lands on the radar of multiple shady characters, including the killer. Along the way, Lyle finds himself in dangerous situations and has some comedic, yet tense, run-ins with Detective Tarkof who wants Lyle far away from his case.
Lyle’s character shines through and drives the narrative. He is hot-tempered, smart, and makes friends easily with his somewhat dark sense of humor. These qualities come in handy considering trouble senses him coming a mile away and sticks to him like super glue. The secondary characters, including a mobster porn magnate, a retired professional wrestler, an aggravated police detective, a quirky housemate, and an alluring woman, round out the cast.
The setting in the Twin Cities is gritty and provides the perfect backdrop for the well-paced plotting, filled with clues, red herrings, and doubts about which characters are trustworthy, and which are not. Overall, the writing style is concise, witty, and provides just the right amount of descriptive detail to paint a picture in your mind without slowing the pace.
Fans of crime fiction and hard-boiled detectives along the lines of Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade will enjoy this series.
My Rating: 5+ stars
Buy it Now:
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-shiver-in-her-eyes-brian-anderson/1141502896?ean=9781509242801
The Wild Rose Press: https://wildrosepress.com/product/the-shiver-in-her-eyes/
Author Biography:
Brian Anderson is a graduate of the University of Minnesota whose Dinkytown neighborhood provides the setting for his mystery series featuring private investigator Lyle Dahms. The Dahms novels spring from his lifelong love of mystery fiction, especially the works of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, as well as more contemporary masters like Robert B. Parker and G. M. Ford. He is a three-time finalist in the Pacific Northwest Writers Association mystery and suspense contest, and his debut novel, The Shiver in Her Eyes, was a finalist in their Nancy Pearl Contest for published fiction.
In 2024, he released his standalone novel Yule Tide, which features a fallen angel turned private investigator who fights to wrest Christmas from the dark forces who have taken control and twisted it to their evil ends.
Brian spent much of his professional career working to alleviate domestic hunger serving as the operations director of the Emergency Feeding Program of Seattle & King County as well as the manager of the Pike Market Food Bank in downtown Seattle. Married with three beautiful daughters, he now lives and writes in Ocean Shores, a small city on the Washington coast.
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Reviewed by: Michelle
